We were supposed to take off around 8:30pm Friday night....nooooo, the flight was delayed 3 hours!!! Our gates were changed about 6 times, luckily the gates were right next to each other but we didn't land in Glasgow until about 2 am. Which was not good because we had a hostel in Edinburgh-about an hour away-for that night...we planned on taking a train or a bus but at that time they wouldn't be running. So we scrambled to find a way to get there and found a taxi. Yes, we took a taxi to Edinburgh. The airport taxis were helping everyone out and we got about 50euro off of the ride and it was split between 6 of us so it was fairly cheap, only about 25euro a person!
We find our hostel and check-in, well that was a pain as well because when we booked it we had to book separate rooms for each night and one of the nights we accidentally booked a room for 5 so we had to go back to book another room for the 6th person...well when we got there they said it was impossible to have us all in the same room. So, one of us (me) had to sleep in a different room the second night with no one that they knew! So, we went to our room and passed out.
Woke up early to catch our tour, and by early I mean we only got 3 hours of sleep. The tour lasted about 12 hours too!!! I fell asleep on the bus tour the first 2 hours then dosed in and out for the rest of it. But I enjoyed it, we traveled through the Glencoe mountains, and the Highlands to lake Loch Ness. Which is redundant to say because lake in Gaelic is Loch, so it's already saying lake. But anyway, the mountains were BEAUTIFUL! There were covered in green loveliness! And that time of morning there was a bunch of fog and mist so it's looked more mysterious and Scotland-like!
The tour guide was a little pushy because we were on such a long tour and the time constraints were short, he was not my favorite but it was still a good tour! We stopped to get lunch, well lets just say not the best fish-n-chips I've had! But nonetheless it was cheap food! We then traveled up through the highlands and into Loch Ness...and Urquhart Castle, the castle on Loch Ness.
After that we took an hour boat ride across part of Loch Ness while hearing some of the history...it's crazy how protected that lake is. There is a three year waiting list to get a license to fish on it, and the license lasts three months. The lake and Nessie are protected by both the British and Scottish Parliaments. If she is caught, she can be photographed and blood-tested but not taken out of the lake permanently. The lake is huge though, you can stack 3 of the Big Ben's at the British Parliament on top of each other and they still wouldn't reach the surface. Also Scottish lakes have pet (pronounced pete) in them that make the water mucky and appear oily. So, the visibility in Loch Ness isn't all that great....didn't see Nessie like I wanted to but I think she's in there!!!
After Loch Ness we got back on the bus and started making our way south towards Edinburgh, we passed by and sometimes over Scotland's canal system. There are four major bridges, the last one is the biggest and by golly is it big!
Once we got back to Edinburgh we were all exhausted from not getting any sleep the night before but some of us didn't want to go to bed right away. So, we hung out in the bar that was in our hostel and played some pool. We then went upstairs and got ready for bed, well I knew no one would volunteer to sleep in the other room that night so I did. I just kept my stuff in the room where everyone was staying and took my ipod and water bottle down to the other room. I walk in and there are two guys there, one on his bed and the other getting settled. Asked where they were from, one from the Czech Republic and the other-who couldn't speak very much English was from Italy. So, I crawled into my bed and put my earphones in and passed out.
Well what happened next was interesting! I was in and out of sleeping because it was soooo hot in the room but I just kept trying since I knew I needed the sleep. At one point in the night the songs on my ipod were switching so there wasn't any music playing and I heard the Italian guy that was sleeping in the bunch below me start to scream...I turned my ipod down and waited and I'm fairly certain he was sleep talking but I don't know I just laid there. Soon after the scream happened he got up frantically and starting moving his stuff around then left the room. It felt like 5 minutes and he was back in the room with a towel on and thats it, he smelled nice though ha, so I knew he went to take a shower. I passed out again after that and didn't wake up until the morning. I sat up facing the wall and pulled my hair back then turned around and the Czech Republic guy was reading a book and I bet he was just waiting for my reaction when I saw 7 guys all sleeping in just their underwear in the room! ha it was an 8 bed room so I was the only girl! I laughed and then went upstairs! I never felt unsafe so it wasn't a big deal just didn't realize it was an all-guys room! ha oh well, makes for a good story.
Sunday we went shopping a bit, I bought my mummy something, but shhh don't tell her! ha And then we went to the Elephant House, which is where the author of Harry Potter wrote most of her books, it's famous now. Ate some very delicious spicy meatball soup there! yumm I'd love to make that when I get home. Then we headed out to meet a group for a free walking tour we heard about. Our tour guide was from Canada and was hilarious, he made the tour a lot of fun. Took us all over, to the capital building, a few churches, told some stories and took us to a graveyard where there is one of the most haunted graves in the world. He was the persecutor of a lot of Covenanters in Scotland. I'll have to research more on him since I forgot a lot of details, it was pretty cool to see. But his grave is in a room, and is now locked but before it was locked there was a lot of paranormal activity that was documented there...felt really creepy to look inside it! :)
We also walked around the Edinburgh Castle, which sits on top of a hill and can be see literally any where in Edinburgh, loved looking up at that for a few days!
The walking tour took a few hours but was totally worth it, from the tour we were able to get 1 pound off of a Pub crawl that night. So we went back to the room, got ready to go out then ate at this place across the street from our hostel called Ryan's Bar. It was delicious, I had a bacon bbq burger...IT WAS REAL BARBECUE SAUCE!!! Then we met up with the pub crawl crew...it was raining so it took us a little while to walk there. This pub crawl was sooo much fun, we got a free pint at the first bar, a discounted jager-bomb at the second bar, which they set up like dominos, SO COOL! Then a free shot of whiskey at the third bar and discounted drinks. We went to a club called Frankensteins, and got a free test-tube shot, and KARAOKE! Jen, Amanda, Alyssa and I sand Dancing Queen, ha it was so much fun! Then got free entrance to a club which was our last stop! I will end the pub crawl story with wow I had a great night! I will say when it came time to leave Amanda was leaving with me then went back in to find the others and got distracted so I left. Edinburgh is a safe town so mum don't freak out, but I walked home by myself, got a little lost so hopped in a taxi. When the taxi pulled in front of my hostel, which was probably right around the corner, I open my wallet and realize oh crap I don't have any more money! So I dump out all my change, which was maybe a pound total, and hand it to him...ha he just looked at me and said just get out in a sigh! haha Luckily I was at the hostel already, it pays to be a girl sometimes! So I went in and went to the third and final room at that hostel and there were two people, a guy and girl working on their laptops in the room. I scrambled to find my stuff and then passed out! Woke up with my contacts in, (my eyes still don't like me from that) and still a little buzzed. Katie and Jen were in my room with me and so we took our time getting ready and talked about what had happened the night before. We all came to the conclusion that Edinburgh was great craic (the Irish say that, meaning a great night)!
We wanted to say in Edinburgh until after 1pm, since at 1 a cannon is fired off every day at the castle. So, we sat down in the gardens and waited. It was neat, Katie of course screamed when it went off but it was cool to be there for that! Then we bought a bus ticket to Glasgow so we could fly home.
When we got to Glasgow, Katie had looked up a pub that had everything under 10 pounds, and by that point we all had spent WAY too much money so we were all down for that! It was really good food too, come to find out the pub is the oldest pub in Glasgow! Pretty neat! Plus the bartender, and our waiter was gorgeous! So hard to understand though, the Scottish accents are sometimes a lot harder to understand!
Oh but before that, one thing the tour guide on our walking tour told us about was this drink that is banned in the US. The FDA apparently found a chemical or something in it that is not safe for consumption, but in Europe this drink has out sold Pepsi, and Coca-Cola!!! So in my opinion I think the US just got scared and banned it because of competition reasons! So of course when someone tells me not to do something it makes me want to do it, so at the bus station before dinner Jen and I bought this drink...it's called Irn-Bru, and it's super bright orange! It smelled kind of like the bubble-gum fluoride at the dentist and tasted just weird. Couldn't describe it. The lady I bought it from looked at me when I brought it to the counter and asked where are you from! ha She knew I was a foreigner, so I said the states and her nodded so I told her I had to buy it, it's illegal in the states and just had to see was the fuss was all about. So, after I took a drink she asked how I liked it and I said well it's different, ha she laughed. She said she didn't like it either!
After that we went to the airport, and well I had to check my bag, which sucked but what can you do, luckily it was only about 20 dollars to check it! But once we got to our plane I realized why we had to, it was a small plane, a propeller plane! Which besides little Cessnas, I have never been in a commercial propeller plane! I got to sit right at the wing and watch the propeller too! I enjoyed it, it was a beautiful ride, during sunset, ah it was gorgeous! Flying over part of Scotland was cool, got to see all the bodies of water there, which they have a lot!
Get my bag no problem then head back home...I love getting back to Dublin after long weekends like that, feels like home! I'm sad that this is my last week here, of course I miss my family and friends but Dublin...Ireland feels like home now. And leaving is going to feel like leaving home forever. Going to miss this place so much, yes I'll miss Dj as well, him and I have been hanging out and talking more so I've become a little attached but nonetheless I will greatly miss Ireland. Dublin has a very special place in my heart and I will return one day, whether it's for a visit again or to live for a little while!
This week is a little hectic, I finish up work, which of course they give me work when the other intern has already gone home, and then I have to pack up. I proposed Rob and his roommate Nate in Cambridge where I will be staying next week, that if they stock their house up with food I'll make them food every night! ha Rob just said yes, but Nate responded indefinitely, ha he said if what I was saying was true that I could stay forever! haha I wish I had an open ended ticket right now, but I don't, oh well. So that'll be good, I won't have to pay for food while I'm out there next week! So I have to pack this week, write my final paper for my internship credit for CSU, and say my good byes! Going to the local pub tomorrow night after the programs farewell dinner, and then probably out dancing with Dj on Thursday night!
Oh Ireland you are going to be so hard to say goodbye to, I will truly miss you! But I'm glad I came when I did, it was great craic and made a lot of friends!!!
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